


The New Bartenders

by kay_obsessive



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-26
Updated: 2010-01-26
Packaged: 2017-10-06 17:19:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kay_obsessive/pseuds/kay_obsessive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you drive taxis in New York, you learn a few things about a lot of people. (The Goat)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The New Bartenders

When you drive taxis in New York, you learn a few things about a lot of people. Which couples are on the verge of divorce, which spouses have drinking problems, which pair just got married and can't shut up about it. Who's behind on rent, who just got fired, who's new in town. Happy people, lonely people, lost people.

And sometimes, through a quirk of the universe, you learn a lot of things about a few people.

That sort of coincidence has led to Ranjit knowing one group of five New Yorkers better than he knows most of the people who live in his building. He was there for a surprising number of big moments over the last few years, beginning with the day he helped Ted Mosby steal a blue French horn for Robin Scherbatsky, watched him screw it up, and witnessed his determination to make it work anyway. He was there for the beginning and the end of that relationship, when the two of them sat, silent and covered in sauce, in the back of his cab, the blue French horn and miles between them.

So it's really no surprise that, when he first hears what Barney has done, Ranjit immediately takes Ted's side. They block him out pretty quickly, but he sits and waits for the argument to end, listening as Ted rages on until he finally leaves the limo and hails a taxi cab down the road.

Ranjit watches until the cab has driven away and then lowers the divider once again, fully intending to continue lecturing Barney for his misdeeds. He changes his mind before even deciding whether to yell at him in English or Bengali.

The man left sitting in his limo looks miserable. There is real remorse on his face, and some other emotions that are less easy to identify, and Ranjit remembers just how much he likes Barney. Barney, who asked his name before even giving his destination the first time he climbed into his cab. Barney, who always paid more than the required fare and always requested him when his company needed a limo. Barney, who almost definitely wouldn't have hurt his best friend intentionally.

Ranjit finds he can't get angry enough for the lecture and settles for giving him a pointed stare. When Barney looks up, he immediately launches into a disjointed explanation. "Look, it's not like I planned for it to happen, okay?" he says, not even really looking at him, "It's just…She was really upset, and I was trying to make her feel better. I went home with her, and we watched this stupid video, and I made her laugh, and it just…happened." Barney runs an anxious hand through his hair and lets out a long sigh. "I didn't want to break the Bro Code or anything, but…"

"It is Robin," Ranjit supplies, remembering Ted and suddenly seeing the situation in a new light.

Barney is staring blankly out the window now. "Yeah," he mumbles.

Ranjit sighs as he turns around and takes the limo out of park. Cab drivers are the new bartenders, and he understands. "I will take you home," he says.

Barney looks surprised. "You're not gonna just leave me stranded out here?"

"What you did was very stupid," he replies, shaking his head, "But I think I know why you did it."

Barney laughs a little, humorlessly. "I don't even know why I did it."

Ranjit thinks of Ted pining and rationalizing. He thinks of Marshall and Lily. He thinks of his own wife rejecting him so many times before saying yes. He pulls back into the street. "I think you will know soon enough."


End file.
